


Reliving Memories

by CyriaBlossoms



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Drabble, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, feels fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-03-30 17:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13956909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyriaBlossoms/pseuds/CyriaBlossoms
Summary: Jack Morrison finally decides to go through the old apartment he and Gabriel bought before their worlds came crumbling down.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! It's been a long time since I wrote anything, but I felt that itch again. I wanted to write something simple and short but full of feelings. 
> 
> Unbeta'ed and written early in the morning, so apologies for any mistakes. Just alert me to them in the comments and I'll make sure they're fixed promptly.

Walking into the dark apartment was a mistake Jack decided. The place had been abandoned for nearly 6 years and for good reason. Dredging up old memories like this was never a good idea, but he had to deal with it eventually. It was better to get it over with, like ripping off a band-aid. The faster the better.

Sighing heavily he walked through the short hallway and into the kitchen and dining room, everything still exactly as it had been. Gabriel’s favourite coffee mug still sitting on the counter, where he left it every morning before he left. Gabriel. The thought of that man made his heart ache in a way that he thought had long passed.

Jack shook his head a bit and kept going through the apartment, flicking on the lights and opening up the curtains on his way. The dining room table was a disaster of old mission paperwork and some magazines. The headline on one caught his eye and he brushed off the dust, looking at a photo of he and Gabriel with the headline “Overwatch – Friend or foe?” It made him sick. Brought back memories long since repressed.

He threw it back onto the pile and coughed from the resulting dust cloud. Moving on, he went into the bedroom. Clothes were strewn on what was Gabriel’s side of the room, which made Jack chuckle. The man had always been so chaotic and disorganized. Jack’s side of the room was perfect, bed made and clothes neatly folded on top of the covers. Even his old blue duster was draped over the bed. It was like stepping back in time. Back to when his life was happier.

Looking over to the nightstand, the old soldier got another twinge of pain in his heart. A framed photo of he and Gabriel, from the night they celebrated their engagement. The darker man looked so handsome that night, wearing a dark suit and for once forgoing his signature beanie. Even after all those years, Jack still remembered everything that had been said that night, the exact smell of the cologne Gabriel wore, the feeling of pure happiness and joy that coursed through him like a drug. He missed it deeply.

Sighing and rubbing his creased forehead, Jack sat on the corner of the bed and put his head in his hand. Coming in here was a bad idea. Why didn’t he ask Ana to come with him. Or better yet, why didn’t he get her to clean this place out instead. Why did he have to convince himself that only he could deal with what had been left to rot while he was “dead”.

He didn’t even know where to start. Should he throw away Gabriel’s clothes? What about the old guitar in the corner that he knew had belonged to the man’s long dead brother. Would Gabriel have wanted that to be thrown away or donated? And what about all those files on the table. A majority would need to be burned, since they were the declassified copies that could still endanger people and topple governments if they were read. The rest could be shredded and put out to the curb.

Jack decided that that was what he was going to do first. He pushed himself off of the bed, groaning at the pain in his knees that seemed to come and go now. Sitting at the table he started to go through the papers, reading each one and putting them into piles. It felt good to do work like this again and it helped soothed his heart and mind. Well, it did until he came across some Blackwatch files.

He had never looked at these back then. Let Reyes manage his own business unless he was directly asked to assist. But now he freely looked inside. The first file detailed, in Gabriel’s own handwriting, a mission in which he and Jesse went to New Mexico to “question” some former gang members. Jack knew what his partner had been doing, but chose to turn a blind eye for the sake of his sanity. Now, it sickened him knowing the full scope of it all. He quickly closed the file and took the rest, putting them on the pile to be burnt.

* * *

It took the man almost 4 hours to go through all of the paperwork left in his old apartment. Most of it was to be disposed of, the rest was neatly bagged up and put out in the hall. He placed the papers in the sink in the kitchen and struck a match, setting a few sheets on fire and watching them turn to ash. Once that was done, he started to clean up the rest of the kitchen, putting Gabriel’s old mug aside to take back with him.

Eventually he began to sort through his lover’s old possessions, keeping a few for himself and putting the rest in the trash. Jack decided to give the guitar away, knowing he couldn’t bear to put it in the trash. If he stopped and wandered back into his old memories, he could still recall Gabriel strumming its strings and tuning it carefully while Jack looked over personnel files. The man never sang much, but when he did it always made the old soldier smile and relax a little more.

Eventually, he had a small pile of things to keep sitting in the hallway, things like his lover’s old beanie, a few shirts, and some photographs. The soldier placed them in his pack and took a final look around, making sure he wasn’t forgetting anything that needed to be looked at or thrown away. Satisfied, he grabbed the bag and left, locking the door behind him. He called the real estate company and told them that he was selling the place to the first person to make any reasonable offer. He wanted to be done with it. Wanted to move on.

* * *

Jack Morrison was so preoccupied with his phone call that he didn’t see the man watching him from a car parked outside the doors. The man in the car listened through the cracked passenger window, closing his eyes and letting the voice wash over him. He hadn’t heard that voice in almost 6 years and hearing it again made him want to cry and throw himself at its owner. In fact, it took all the willpower he had not to.

Gabriel watched as the white haired soldier walked a little further down the road and got into his own car, driving off to god knows where. He closed his eyes and sighed, blowing out a little bit of purplish-black smoke. He had to keep his distance or else Jack would get hurt. He already did everything he could to keep Talon off of him. To keep them from killing him or torturing him for information.

Maybe some day he and Jack would be reunited, maybe even get married and live happily ever after like they had dreamed about all those years ago. Living on some farm in the middle of nowhere, tending to livestock and enjoying their hard earned retirement.

But, that was far in the future and he had to get his head out of the clouds. He needed to get to a meeting with Akande and Sombra before they got suspicious about where he went. He turned the car on and rubbed his forehead, pulling out into the traffic and blending into the busy city.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I wasn't going to do a second part to this, but some people changed my mind. This is for Boef / NotASquirrel11! 
> 
> Once again this is unbeta'd and any mistakes are my own. Please comment anything that you find and I will fix them ASAP!

Jack returned to the small place he and Ana called home, setting his pack down by the door as he nudged off his boots and leather jacket. He could hear her making tea in the kitchen and sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hand. He never cared for the stuff despite how much she tried to get him hooked.

 

“It's done.” His voice sounded more hoarse than he had intended. The crying in the car before he came inside had ruined his throat and made his face puffy.

 

“You don't sound good, Jack...”

 

“I'll live.” He tried his best to brush her off and go into his room, taking the pack full of Gabriel's old things with him. He could hear her huff and mumble something in Arabic behind his back, probably cursing him out for being stubborn. He didn't care.

 

Sitting on the edge of the stiff bed he unzipped the pack and started taking things out, arranging them on his nightstand. When he pulled out the beanie he stopped for a moment and rubbed his thumb over the soft knit fabric. So many times he teased the man about wearing the hat and how if his head got cold he should let his hair grow out again. He had loved Gabriel's longer hair and was a bit stunned when the man waltzed out of their bathroom one evening with all his dark brown locks shaved off. Maybe it was because Jack had jokingly pointed out a couple of grey hairs.

 

The soldier pressed the article of clothing to his face and held back a small sob. It still smelled of his former lover. It was the first time he had smelled that scent in six years and it flooded him with memories once again – some that made his heart ache like it had when he was told that the man he loved had died.

 

* * *

_6 years ago_

 

Everything hurt. He felt like he had been beaten up then tossed through a meat grinder. If he breathed in he could barely stand the sharp stabbing pain that came moments after. Not to mention the throbbing ache in his head and slight ringing in his ears. He didn't even remember what had happened after he arrived at the Swiss HQ. He had started on his morning paperwork then nothingness.

 

Slowly opening his eyes, the soldier squinted against the harsh lights above him. The room was stark white with blue accents along the walls. After a few moments of adjusting he opened his eyes a bit more and saw the tubing and needles in his arms, hooking him up to the various machines at his side. He was in a hospital room.

 

His first thoughts went to Gabriel. Was he okay? He must have been because the older man wasn't in the empty bed beside him. He didn't even remember seeing him that morning. He had stayed overnight at the base to finish tying up Blackwatch loose ends and never returned home. Gabriel had been on edge ever since Jack shut down Blackwatch, fearing that his husband wound end up in prison or worse for what had been done in the organization. They had hardly spoken more than twenty words in the month afterwards and it worried the younger man.

 

The door to his room opening jolted him out of his thoughts and he started to sit up before the shooting pain in his spine and back made him give up. Angela came in with his chart in hand and her face lit up when she saw that he was awake at last.

“Jack!” She came over and began checking his vitals and IV bags before sitting in the chair beside his bed. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

 

The soldier cleared his throat and rubbed his throbbing temple before he spoke.

 

“What happened? Where is Gabriel?” His throat burned as he spoke and his voice sounded like he had gargled broken glass. The blonde woman's face changed when he mentioned the other man, her eyes lowering to the floor and her small smile fading.

 

“Jack,” she started, forcing herself to look up at the man in front of her. “Jack, Gabriel didn't make it.” Her voice broke at the last few words and she looked down again.

 

All of Jack's physical pain seemed like nothing compared to the pain he felt in his heart at the very moment. Ice filled his veins and a lead weight fell on his chest, pushing the air out of his lungs. It felt like he was drowning, head under the water with no way to pull himself back out again. Getting shot by Bastion fire hurt less than the pain he felt at that very moment and part of him wished he could choose that instead. After a few moments a choked sob left his throat and he closed his eyes, fighting back the tears that stung the new wounds on his face.

 

“He can't be dead! HE CAN'T BE!” He felt her hand on his bicep and he jerked away from her touch like it burned. She stayed silent while sobs shook his body and he cried into his bandaged hand. Now he knew what all those families felt when he had to tell them that their loved ones passed away on a mission or were in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

 

When Angela spoke again her voice was soft and quiet. “We didn't recover his body, but security cameras and witnesses place him in the basement when the explosion happened, right at the heart of it. Crews searched for days but found nothing but a few streaks of blood.” He barely heard her words.

 

“At first we thought you were dead too since you were only a few floors above the main blast. If you weren't a super soldier I'd suspect Overwatch would be burying both of you.” She got up and grabbed a box of tissues, setting it on his lap.

 

“Do you know who did it?” Jack grabbed a handful of tissues and rubbed his eyes, careful of the scar going over his forehead and nose.

 

“No. The UN is investigating but they haven't found anything yet. Everyone is still dealing with funerals and informing the families of the fallen.” Jack nodded slowly and sighed shakily.

 

A silence fell over the room as he thought about what to do next. Who he knew of that could of planted the bombs and gotten out without being noticed, but only one organization came to mind. Talon. They had blown up other Overwatch and Blackwatch facilities in the past in almost the same manner. He should have seen it coming.

 

* * *

_The Present_

When Ana let herself into the old soldier's room later in the evening she knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant sight. She knew how it felt to lose everyone close to you and the weight it puts on your heart. He had repressed these feelings for so long so he could keep hunting for Talon and the people responsible that she knew eventually it all had to come out.

The former strike commander was sitting on his bed trembling as sobs wracked his muscular frame. Reyes' old beanie was still clutched in his hands so tightly that his knuckles were bone white. She came over and sat beside him slowly, rubbing a hand over his back. She knew nothing that she said would make it hurt any less so she stayed silent, simply offering her presence to him. The sniper stayed there for who knows how long, rubbing gentle circles into his back as he finally let the emotional waterfall consume him.

 

Eventually he thanked her quietly and she left as he got ready for bed, putting the beanie on the nightstand beside their engagement photo.

 

 

* * *

 

Reaper left the meeting of Talon's council with a dull headache and frayed nerves. They were getting closer to former Overwatch operatives in Germany, dispatching Widowmaker to scout out the area for a mission in the future. He already had plans in place to disrupt her and throw her off of their trail before she could give a firm location.

 

Pulling his thick coat closer he got into his car and started to drive with no particular destination in mind. He thought back to earlier, when he saw Jack at their old apartment going through their things. He knew he was alive but seeing him with his own eyes finally made it real. Made what was left of his heart hurt with a familiar pain.

 

Gabriel decided that he had to see Jack. Had to speak to him. He had to let his former husband know that he wasn't rotting six feet under.


End file.
